Between The Lines
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Some point in time, everything starts to change... even if we don't realise it then.
1. Somewhere Along The Way

_**10/8/15, 12:35am...**_

" _One down… now off with it, lass." Finn said with a slight smirk, Amanda setting the pool cue aside and looking at Finn._

" _As you wish." Amanda responded with a small smirk, slowly slipping her tank top off over her head but she was still in her skinny jeans and motorcycle boots while Finn was down to just his jeans._

 _It had started out as a way to distract themselves from the chaos, the two had ended up at the Hideaway bar in downtown Orlando… one thing led to them drinking tequila shots, the tequila led to Finn suggesting that the two up the stakes in their usual night out._

 _Which had led to them in this, Amanda trying her hardest not to blush like a schoolgirl as she eyed Finn._

 _Crossfire by Stevie Ray Vaughan started to play from the jukebox as Amanda quickly composed herself before getting in another shot, the 4 ball shooting right into the side pocket._

" _Your turn now, Balor." Amanda chuckled, Finn pulling his jeans off and kicking them aside which left him in his boxers before he got another shot in._

 _Amanda was out of her boots and socks as she once again quickly eyed Finn, absentmindedly biting on her lower lip and quickly pretending to focus on the game… but Finn noticed and smirked._

" _Are you lappin' up some cheeky peeks, lassie?" Finn asked, emphasising his accent more than normal in a slight joking manner._

"I've… tried to be subtle about it…" Amanda manages to say, her voice partly stuck in her throat as she felt his right hand on her side. "It's… not easy to…"

" _You don't make it easy either… to keep my hands off you." Finn whispered as he trailed his fingers up her side… before aiming the cue and pulling back, the 7 striped ball going into the corner pocket._

" _Damn it, you don't play fair!" Amanda said, pouting slightly but removed her jeans anyway and doing so a little slowly as she knew that Finn would watch._

" _Most times, I don't…" Finn whispered as he eyed Amanda up and down… he knew she was wearing the satin grey green push up bra and hiphugger panties just to get his blood running._

 _Lie To Me by Jonny Lang played on the jukebox as the door to the bar opened… and a chuckle distracted them, the two seeing Murphy and Alexa._

" _Well it didn't take too long for you two to get each others clothes off… looks like Lexa was right." Murphy said._

" _l don't see how it's any of your business, just a little dare is all… as for you, maybe you wouldn't be watching me like you are if your bitchy girlfriend wasn't so frigid." Amanda said, Alexa trying to slap her but Amanda caught her wrist and punched her._

 _Murphy and Finn were fighting as well after Finn had stopped Murphy from attacking Amanda… but then Murphy turned and bashed a bottle into Finn's head._

 _Amanda ran at the bar, jumped on its edge and Murphy screamed as he was tackled through a table._

" _Lights out, fucker!" Amanda growled after she stood up when Murphy's eyes closed, Amanda running over and helping Finn up before seeing that he had a few cuts on him._

" _I'm okay, Mandy…" Finn responded, handing Amanda's clothes to her as he shoved his own clothes back on…_

 **Present time…**

"Of course…" Hunter muttered as soon as he heard the strange mix of whispers and shouting at the WWE Performance Centre and stopped into the meeting room. "Hey, can you all get yourselves together and tell me what the hell is going on?! Bayley, no hair pulling and bitch slaps, kiddo." He said, Bayley reluctantly letting go of Alexa.

"They're overreacting, it's just a damn storyline!" Bayley explained.

"You're overreacting!" Alexa yelled before turning to her MacBook Pro and bringing up a clip from last week's NXT, playing it. "What do you call this?" She asked, Hunter seeing the clip was of Finn pulling on Amanda's hair as they walked down the ramp but not in a hurtful way and his teeth clipping the part where her neck and right shoulder are before the clip stopped.

"Scripted. Now I'm sure all of you who were on the roster back in 2006 and as well as fans of the WWE back then remember that the Kevin Thorn/Ariel storyline was similar to this." Hunter responded, most of the older wrestlers nodding in agreement. "Glenn, something on your mind, buddy?" He asked, Glenn Jacobs who was better known as Kane standing up.

"Look, I have no problem with this storyline or Finn being around Mandy… if one of my daughters brought a guy like him home, I'd be like any father would at first but accepting." Kane explained.

"Becky?" Hunter said after turning to her, Becky Lynch standing up.

"I've known Finn since I was 15, he's been like an older brother me and Mandy's turned into that kid sister role. As far as them working together and hanging around each other, I don't see anything wrong." Becky answered.

"They are too damn close for comfort and you know it!" Seth responded.

"Hey, just cause you don't like sharing Mandy with any of the other males in the company doesn't mean that there's any actual threat to her from Finn! And don't you dare bring _that_ up because he's nothing like Randy or Cody!" Becky replied angrily.

"I was a young, stupid prick but at least I can admit it, Rollins!" Randy said.

In the main room of the Performance Centre, Amanda and Finn could hear the distant arguing become louder and Aestrid could hear it too as she walked in.

"Aw, damn it. Why do I have a feeling they set off Dad mode in there?" Amanda said, putting the barbells aside.

"Hunter's in that meeting room?" Aestrid asked.

"Yep. He's scary enough in that ring but piss him off about either his and Steph's family or their WWE family and he goes all papa bear." Amanda responded, trying her hardest not to laugh. "Get your fingers off my spine, Finn." She said, Finn lowering his left hand and lightly rubbing her sore right shoulder instead.

"You really should get this shoulder fixed up, lass." Finn responded, remembering how Amanda was sent flying into the barricade last week.

"I've had it checked, there's no damage to the rotator cuff or other muscles. Just aggravated the scar tissue damage from the old injury." Amanda said.

"Well that's good but you still need to take it easy." Finn responded as he lightly massaged Amanda's shoulders.

Amanda started to feel less tense… but she also thought back to the last time that things blurred.


	2. The Younger Years

_**9/18/06, Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto…**_

 _Amanda was slow to open her eyes, seeing Randy._

" _You're alright, I was starting to think you weren't gonna wake up." Randy said in relief, Amanda pulling the covers up… and pulling them back over her and himself. "Yeah… we got really crazy last night, Mandy." He said._

" _You're fucking right we did! John's gonna kill us." Amanda responded as she tried to sit up, Randy stopping her when he saw her cringe in pain. "He won't be the only one driven to murder, Sam's gonna be madder than hell when she finds out." She said._

" _If she finds out." Randy said._

" _She'll call off the wedding… you two love each other, she needs to know." Amanda responded before seeing the look on his face. "You two have been fighting, haven't you? About being on the road or the storyline with me and you?" She asked as he helped her sit up and cradled her face with his hands._

" _A bit of both… well, more towards her thinking the worst of every female in the company." Randy answered._

" _It's far from the first time a storyline has turned real… look at how Chris and Nancy started out in WCW, now they have an adorable little boy who's started 1st grade." Amanda said, Randy smiling slightly. "Before you tie the knot, you need to be sure that there's no doubts that you love Samantha. Are there?" She said, Randy entwining the fingers on his right hand with the ones on Amanda's left._

 _Before he could answer her, both heard a knock at the door._

" _Randy, wake up!" John replied, Amanda immediately wrapping the hotel robe around her and hiding as Randy pulled his boxers and pajama pants on, covering up Amanda's side of the bed before heading to the door and opening it. "Damn, rough night?" He asked._

" _Yeah, drank too much. Something wrong?" Randy answered._

" _Yeah, I can't find Mandy. At first I thought she might've gotten up earlier to go get something to eat but her hotel bed looked like it hadn't been slept in." John responded._

" _I haven't seen her since last night. She was talking to that new guy on SmackDown, Mike. That was the last time I saw her… not sure why he was here in Toronto though." Randy said._

" _Alright. Just as long as they weren't doing anything other than talking." John replied before going on down the hallway, Randy closing and locking the door as Amanda was back in the room._

" _That was damn close…" Amanda whispered._

" _Too damn close." Randy responded before helping Amanda sit down. "Sorry that I got a bit rough… I'm used to it like that but I should've been gentler with you." He said._

" _I'm okay… let's just figure this all out first before we do anything else. If we do anything else." Amanda responded, pulling her tousled hair into a messy ponytail before she got dressed and left._

 _She stopped by the nearest drugstore and picked up the morning after pill, swallowing it when she got back to the room her and John were sharing. Stripping down and after rinsing last night's makeup off and shaving, she stood under the warm water in the shower and started to clean herself off._

 _She felt like she could think clearer after the shower, wrapping a towel around her and drying off with another._

" _Just a one off… that happens a lot with people." Amanda said quietly after wrapping her hair up in the second towel…_

 **Present time…**

Aestrid looked up when she heard the door slam and a low growl.

"Oh, don't even try it." Aestrid responded, Randy rubbing the sides of his head.

"I was crazy in my youth but I wasn't 'jumping off the wall at the smallest thing' crazy. You've seen Mandy or Finn?" Randy said.

"Mandy should be outside, Finn is grabbing the things from their locker… how bad are things getting in that room?" Aestrid answered.

"Well, Dean was trying to strangle Seth and Becky ended up bitch slapping Alexa." Randy said, Aestrid snickering.

"Oh, the joys of unmapped woman fights… They never get old." Aestrid said after a moment.

"Nope, they don't. I don't get it though, why are they going off the wall about this?" Randy replied as they headed towards the doors… and heard it.

"I don't see how it's any of your business, it's not like you and I were seeing each other." Amanda responded, trying to walk away from Seth but he grabbed her by her right wrist.

That resulted in her slapping him, forcing him to let go as Aestrid went to find Finn and Randy pulled Amanda away.

"Stay outta this!" Seth yelled.

"Don't put your hands on her!" Randy shouted as Aestrid and Finn reached them. "Get her out of here, you two." He said, the three leaving.

"He's gonna kill him." Amanda said once they were a good distance from the center, Aestrid driving as Finn was examining Amanda's bruising wrist. "I'm okay, I just… bruise easily." She responded.

"You think?... Sometimes I never stop." Aestrid responded.

"It's not easy to stop." Finn said as Aestrid stopped the car at the apartment.

A while later and Aestrid having gone home, Finn and Amanda were downstairs and Amanda saw a video call from John, answering it.

"You okay?" John asked.

"Yes, wrist is just sore. Randy tell you what happened, I take it?" Amanda answered.

"Yeah… and I forgot to tell you, our family's stopping by the next NXT event." John said.

"John, they've been watching NXT right? Because if not, they're gonna be blindsided by what happens there!" Amanda replied.

"Relax, Mandy. Everything will be alright, they won't try to kill Finn." John said.

"You do remember that you, Dan, Sean, Matt and Steve barely let me out of your sight when I was younger, right? And how you, Dan and Sean grabbed Mike by his shirt and tossed him out the house when we were just talking that day?" Amanda responded.

"Yes but we know to respect your boundaries. Everything's gonna be alright, they're not gonna kill him… doesn't mean they won't interrogate him about everything." John replied, the last part jokingly.

"Oh ha ha, John!" Finn and Amanda said simultaneously and sarcastically, John laughing.

"Damn, you two are on the same kind of thinking. I'll let ya go, try to unwind." John responded before the video call ended and Finn once again pressed a gel pack to Amanda's bruised wrist.

"The thing is, how am I gonna hide this? It's too big to hide with a wristband…" Amanda said.

"Keep it from getting worse before hiding it for now… Hunter's gonna be pissed when he finds out." Finn replied, lightly tucking some of Amanda's collarbone length hair behind her right ear.

"He was in Dad mode when everyone was going crazy in the meeting room earlier, I have a feeling he's gonna really hurt Seth before the upcoming tour." Amanda said, everyone having been looking forward to the upcoming tour in Ireland.

But she was starting to lose her hope that Seth was calming down like he said he would.


	3. Can People Really Change?

_**6/29/07…**_

" _I can't do this anymore… your priorities should be on Samantha, Randy." Amanda said, the half empty wine glass trembling in her unharmed right hand, her left hand with ten stitches in it._

" _Baby, please don't make me choose… I know you deserve someone's full attention, let it be me." Randy begged, fighting the tears in his blue eyes. He and Amanda hadn't intended to fall in love… but Amanda wasn't gonna wait around like a lovestruck kid._

" _I'm sorry… but I am not gonna be some woman on the side because you don't want to choose. And I'm not letting you put your hands on me again." Amanda responded angrily, setting the glass down and turning to leave but Randy wouldn't let that happen._

 _Amanda screamed out in pain when she was slammed against the mirror but Randy clamped his right hand on her mouth to cut it off before anyone heard her and turned her to face him, Randy still drunk… and because he was drunk, he was violent._

" _I… will never let you go. You got it? You're mine, Amanda!" Randy growled, shouting the last part. Amanda rammed her right knee in between Randy's legs, causing him to fall before she opened the door and bolted out of the room._

 _Randy pulled himself up, disgusted with himself and what he just did and said, the tears he had been fighting streaming down his face… Amanda had been going through hell and all he had done was made it worse by not stopping her from hurting herself by drinking her grief and pain away so she could sleep at night._

 _Randy glanced at the thin trail of blood on the mirror… Amanda's blood._

 _He vowed to never hurt her again, to let her live her life… even though it meant it was without him…_

It was sometime into the dead of night that when they were asleep, Amanda's eyes snapped open and she was trembling, the muscles in her back tightened to painful levels. Finn opened his sleepy eyes when he heard Amanda let out a sleepy cry and rubbed his hand up and down her back.

Her hazel eyes opened and she tilted her head up to look into his blue eyes, Finn seeing something that he rarely saw in her… fear.

"Hey… was it a dream?" Finn asked, brushing some hair out of Amanda's face.

Amanda didn't say anything, burying her head into his shoulder instead as his arms wrapped around her… this wasn't like her at all, she had always told him what was wrong.

"Shh… it's okay, it's okay…" Finn whispered as Amanda let tears fall down her face… he knew what it was, Seth had triggered a part of Amanda's past that she never wanted to revisit.

It was after a while that both settled back into sleep… the next morning after getting ready for the NXT taping, Amanda had her earbuds in her ears, listening to the playlist on her IHeartRadio app.

 _Tell me; oh tell me, the way it works, who is that inside of me?_

 _Here in this broken-down, broken-down world, you laugh, without seeing a thing_

 _I'm just so damaged, I hold my breath_

 _Not even the truth can unravel me, freeze_

 _Breakable, unbreakable, shakable, unshakable  
When I found you, it shook me_

 _In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing_

 _Don't look for me; don't look at me  
I don't wish to hurt you in a world of someone else's imaging_

 _Remember who I am, my full, vivid self_

 _Entangled in the loneliness that fans out endlessly, stung by the memory of smiling so innocently,_

 _I can't move, I can't move, I can't move, I can't move, I can't move, I can't move!_

 _UNRAVELLING THE WORLD_

 _I_ _'ve completely changed, I couldn't change back_

 _The two entwine, the couple perishes_

 _Breakable, unbreakable, shakable, unshakable  
I won't defile you!_

 _In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing_

 _Don't look for me; don't look at me  
Before the future comes completely undone, caught in a pit of solitude somebody set for me, _

_Think back on who I am, my full, vivid self_

 _Don't forget me, don't forget me, don't forget me, don't forget me_

 _The change over me has paralyzed_

 _In an immutable object paradise,  
Remember who I am_

 _Tell me, tell me, is there someone inside of me?_

"Mandy?" Finn said, Amanda turning her IHeartRadio app off and pulling her earbuds out.

"Sorry… I just tend to space out at times." Amanda responded as Finn saw how she was hiding her bruised wrist.

"We all do that at times, lass… especially after days like yesterday." Finn said, his hands resting on her shoulders.

At the arena later, Amanda was walking around when she stopped after over hearing this.

"You really are a sore loser, you know that?!" She asked angrily.

" _I'm_ a sore loser?! That Demon Bitch and her fuckbuddy cost me that damn championship, I would be NXT Champion right now if it wasn't for them! And Mandy? Let's face it, Mandy's not so sweet and innocent, she's not even the same girl I knew then, that girl who said she would never compromise who she is!" Baron yelled.

"And she never did! She recovered from a traumatic past, she's no different than she _should_ be!" Aestrid responded.

Amanda left before she could listen to any more of it and put her earbuds in, turning her IHeartRadio app on again.

 _What would you do if I sang out of tune  
Would you stand up and walk out on me?_

 _Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song  
And I'll try not to sing out of key _

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends_

 _What do I do when my love is away?_

 _(Does it worry you to be alone ?)_

 _How do I feel by the end of the day_

 _(Are you sad because you're on your own ?)_

 _Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends_

 _Do you need anybody_

 _I need somebody to love_

 _Could it be anybody  
I want somebody to love _

_Would you believe in a love at first sight_

 _Yes I'm certain that it happen all the time_

 _What do you see when you turn out the light  
I can't tell you but I know it's mine _

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends_

 _Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends_

 _Do you need anybody, I just need someone to love_

 _Could it be anybody, I want somebody to love_

 _Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends_

 _with a little help from my friends_

Amanda was beginning to wonder if she knew Baron Corbin at all. She kicked her right foot into a crate and was about to do it again but felt hands on her shoulders, looked and saw Finn.

"I shouldn't… be taking it personally, he just could be pissed about something else." Amanda said, turning the app off and putting her earbuds in the pocket of her Balor Club hoodie as Finn took her into his arms.

There were times she just wanted to stay there.


	4. Breaking Point

_**8/22/15…**_

 _Oh, damn…" Amanda muttered after she and Finn had gotten ready to head to the Barclays Center for NXT: TakeOver: Brooklyn, Amanda readjusting her Balor Club racerback tank top._

" _What is it, lass?" Finn asked, Amanda pointing out several photographers waiting outside Juliana's Pizzeria, Amanda and Finn deciding to eat dinner there since they already ate breakfast and lunch at the hotel. "Ah… media hounds. Damn vultures." He said._

 _Both valued their privacy and didn't want anyone speculating about them, it was driving them crazy… but they knew that the paparazzi out front weren't the only ones and Finn's rental car, a 2016 Chevy Equinox was right in the parking lot._

 _Finn lightly wrapped his right arm around Amanda's shoulders and the two walked outside as_ _the cameras started going off and the questions were being asked because as luck would have it, a TMZ cameraman were there too as Finn tried to shield Amanda from the flashing lights._

 _She had been dealing with a migraine since yesterday that had weakened but not gone away completely… and Finn was worried._

" _Mr. Balor, Miss Cena, what exactly is going on between you two?" The cameraman asked, Finn and Amanda getting in the car and driving off… but then Finn saw that the paparazzi had started following them on motorbikes._

" _They don't give up. How did they even find us anyway?" Amanda responded as Finn sped up and she let out a startled scream._

" _Hang on tight, love." Finn said, cutting in front of an Escalade… which provoked Colin 'Big Cass' Cassady as he was driving it._

" _Watch the fucking road, Balor!" Colin yelled._

 _But neither Finn or Amanda were paying attention to Colin now._

 _Losing the paparazzi took a while but they managed to… and were taking deep breaths to soothe their racing hearts._

" _Damn that was close…" Amanda whispered, Finn seeing the Escalade again._

" _Stay down!" Finn responded, pulling Amanda into the backseat and then himself before covering themselves with the blanket as Colin and Enzo started looking._

" _I think those two lovers ditched us…" Enzo said after a while._

" _Keep lookin, Zo. They might be in the arena already." Colin replied before they headed into the Barclays Center, Finn looking up._

" _They're gone. You okay there?" Finn responded, looking under him as he was on top of Amanda._

" _Yeah…" Amanda answered as she tried to ignore the increasing heat between her legs and Finn's body responding to that._

 _But no one could see them…_

 **Present time,** _ **NXT Taping scheduled to air 11/04/15…**_

This wasn't supposed to happen, she was just supposed to stay calm… but she had snapped when she saw Baron attacking Apollo and then turn to Finn with a menacing look and started towards him.

"No!" Amanda yelled, standing up to her feet even though her 5'1" frame was dwarfed easily by his 6'8" one… and this left Baron confused as it wasn't what was written down.

"Get out of my way, Mandy!" Baron demanded.

"Go fuck yourself, you backstabbing fuck! You're a sorry excuse for a friend!" Amanda shouted, Baron reeling back in shock.

In the back, Hunter and Aestrid were watching and Hunter turned to her.

"What in the world happened with those two?!" Hunter asked as Amanda started shoving and striking at Baron to get him to not hurt Finn.

But Baron had snapped, locked his arms around Amanda and attempted to go for the End Of Days when Finn ran at him and knocked him down, punching him repeatedly.

One punch in particular broke Baron's nose… and then Finn stood up, turned and pulled Amanda up to her feet, cradling her face in his hands as Baron got out of the ring.

"What gives you any right to put your hands on her? That's our little sister!" Baron heard, turned and saw Dan, Sean, Steve and Matt… and coldly smirked at them.

"You think that our former 'brotherhood' matters to me? It ended and died… and it seems that Mandy went with it!" Baron responded.

"Smug fucking jackass!" Amanda growled, running through the ropes and tackling Baron to the floor before standing up. "Guys, backstage." She said to her brothers.

It was in the locker room that Amanda had started explaining it.

"So the meeting just didn't involve NXT but the main rosters as well. I didn't want you all stuck in the middle of this." Amanda said, Dan seeing the bruises forming on her neck when he carefully moved her head. "Dan? I'm not bruised like I was when I was 5 and fell out of that tree. I'm okay." She replied but she knew he didn't believe that… but he let it go for now and hugged her.

When the four were back in the audience for the dark match, Amanda finally sat down next to Finn.

"For a second, I thought they were gonna get angry at you too. I know they weren't pleased about your teeth ending up on my neck, even if it was scripted. I guess that's just all older siblings, I am the only sister among them." Amanda said as Finn rested his hand on her back.

"They'll always be protective of you, lass." Finn responded.

It was when they were at the apartment that they were watching an episode of New Japan Pro Wrestling and seeing AJ Styles against Kenny Omega.

"You still keep in touch with them?" Amanda asked.

"As much as I can. Strange seeing them on Tv at times but I think you'd really would fit in well with the Bullet Club if they decide to come to WWE." Finn answered.

"I've known AJ and Luke since I was a teenager and only met The Young Bucks once… didn't go too well, actually, they were disrespectful to some of the older wrestlers at their tryout." Amanda responded.

"Well they were still kids then. We all mature differently." Finn said as he ran his fingers through Amanda's hair.

"Yeah, that's true…" Amanda replied as she started to drift off into sleep.

It was early into the next morning that both heard a knock downstairs and heard Aestrid open the door, both opening their eyes.

"Hey, is Finn here?" Nick Jackson asked.

"I think he is… he's not the type to spend a whole night at the drinker, put it that way." Aestrid replied.

"Yeah, it is almost six in the morning." Matt said as Aestrid let them in… it wasn't long before a tiny yet familiar frame was in their eyesight, chestnut curls in a bedhead texture and a Bullet Club shirt hanging off her frame.

"Mandy?" Nick asked.

"Hey, guys… been a long time." Amanda responded.

"It has." Matt Jackson replied before seeing Finn standing behind Amanda and then turning, seeing AJ Styles behind them. "We should… get on going, catch up later-"

"Nobody's going anywhere until Finn and Mandy explain just what the hell happened!" AJ said in an angered tone, Finn and Amanda turning to each other.

The whole room turned tense, everyone knowing that in an instant, AJ had left his mild mannered attitude behind and turned protective.


End file.
